Mr. Hakeem told media that the SLMC took the decision after lengthy deliberations. He said though the motion had been aimed at the Prime Minister, the end result would be the defeat of the entire government. “We don’t want to defeat the government which we installed,” he said.

“We intend to brief the Prime Minister regarding certain questions that were raised during the council’s meeting,” he told reporters in Colombo.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, who called on the President earlier today, has stated that it would decide on the no-confidence motion by tonight.